Product description

Marketing visionary Martin Lindstrom has been on the front lines of the branding wars for over twenty years. In "Brandwashed", he turns the spotlight on his own industry, drawing on all he has witnessed behind closed doors, exposing for the first time the full extent of the psychological tricks and traps that companies devise to win our hard-earned money. "Brandwashed" is a shocking insider's look at how today's global giants conspire to obscure the truth and manipulate our minds, all in service of persuading us to buy.
Lindstrom reveals eye opening details such as: how advertisers and marketers target children at an alarmingly young age - starting when they are still in the womb, what heterosexual men really think about when they see sexually provocative advertising, how marketers and retailers stoke the flames of public panic and capitalize on paranoia over diseases, extreme weather events, and food contamination scares, the first ever evidence proving how addicted we all are to our iPhones and our Blackberrys, and how certain companies, like the maker of one popular lip balm, purposely adjust their formulas in order to make their products chemically addictive, and much, much more.

Author information

Martin Lindstrom, chairman and founder of Buyology Inc, was voted one of the World's 100 Most Influential people by Time magazine. Among the globe's foremost marketers, Lindstrom advises top executives at companies such as McDonald's Corporation, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, PepsiCo, Mercedes-Benz, and Microsoft. His most recent book, Buyology, was a huge international bestseller and he is also the author of Brandsense and Brandchild (both published by Kogan Page).

Review quote

"A marketing veteran who lists McDonald's, Procter & Gamble and Microsoft among his former clients, Martin Lindstrom knows the industry well." The Economist "When the author of Freakonomics talks in such glowing terms about a book it's worth taking a peek. And Martin Lindstrom's Brandwashed certainly deserves it. It's an insiders guide to the sophisticated and cunning ways we are all manipulated on a daily basis by the global brands that want to part us from our pay packets. Lindstrom is a well-qualified guide to this maze of hidden persuasion." British Airways Business Life Magazine "Lindstrom knows every trick going. This fascinating book follows how advertisers literally target everyone often using highly manipulative tactics to convince us to buy their products. An eye-opening read." Star Magazine "After reading this book you will never feel the same after watching an ad again." Healthy Magazine

Editorial reviews

"Lindstrom knows every trick going. This fascinating book follows how advertisers literally target everyone often using highly manipulative tactics to convince us to buy their products. An eye-opening read."

Table of contents

Chapter - 00: Introduction; Chapter - 01: Buy buy baby: When companies start marketing to us in the womb; Chapter - 02: Peddling panic and paranoia: Why fear sells; Chapter - 03: I can't quit you: Brand addicts, shopaholics, and why we cannot live without our smart phones; Chapter - 04: Buy it, get laid: The new face of sex (and the sexes) in advertising; Chapter - 05: Under pressure: The power of peers; Chapter - 06: Oh, sweet memories: The new (but also old) face of nostalgia marketing; Chapter - 07: Marketers' royal flush: The hidden powers of celebrity and fame; Chapter - 08: Hope in a jar: The price of health, happiness, and spiritual enlightenment; Chapter - 09: Every breath you take, they'll be watching you: The end of privacy; Chapter - 10: Conclusion: I'll have what Mrs Morgenson is having The most powerful hidden persuader of them all: us